Kevin Richert
Episode 17: The virtual learning boom, and what comes next
The Idaho Virtual Academy was providing online education before the pandemic, serving some 1,700 K-12 students pre-pandemic. By fall 2020, enrollment had mushroomed to more than 3,800 students. To look back at the boom, and look at the prospects for 2021-22, we interview Kelly Edginton, the head of school at the academy. Idaho Education News…
Analysis: In the absence of mandates, educators pin their hopes on vaccine messaging
School officials and health experts can only encourage vaccinations — and try to make the vaccines as accessible as possible. And hope it all works, as the coronavirus pandemic enters another sobering stage.
LCSC administrator faces backlash over social media posts
The Lewiston Tribune reported Wednesday on comments about the LGBT community, made by Logan Fowler, Lewis-Clark’s marketing and communications director. Fowler is also a pastor in a Lewiston church.
IEA: Record-setting surplus provides ‘golden opportunity’ for underfunded schools
“The record budget surplus should be directed to Idaho’s public schools, which continue to be under-resourced in a state that willingly ranks last in per-student funding,” union President Layne McInelly said Wednesday.
House Ethics Committee to hold hearing on Giddings
In June, Boise State Public Radio reported that Giddings faced an ethics investigation after she publicly shared personal information about “Jane Doe,” a 19-year-old House staffer who said she was sexually assaulted by then-Rep. Aaron Von Ehlinger, R-Lewiston.
Idaho’s budget surplus swells to nearly $900 million
The surplus could have big implications for K-12 and higher education, which historically share more than 60 percent of Idaho’s budget.
A closer look at Idaho’s rising coronavirus case numbers
Coronavirus cases are rising across the nation, and Idaho is no exception.
Workplace vaccination issue breaks along some familiar political lines
Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin is continuing to urge legislators to take up the issue. Gov. Brad Little and Senate Republicans are skeptical.
Episode 16: A midsummer back-to-school status update
Believe it or not — and ready or not — mid-July marks the unofficial midpoint of summer break. We spend this week’s podcast talking to Quinn Perry, the policy and government affairs director for the Idaho School Boards Association. We talk about the back-to-school picture, heading into 2021-22, the coronavirus delta variant and vaccines, the…
Analysis: School trustees could mandate staff COVID vaccines. But would they?
There is nothing in Gov. Brad Little’s executive order that would stop school trustees and administrators from doing what the Treasure Valley’s hospitals did a week ago.